A letter from Father Christmas

The boys each received a letter from Father Christmas yesterday. Yipee!

A1 read out the letter to A2. Father Christmas mentioned that he got their letters from his elves while he was cutting wood in the forest. ....

The two letters were identical. At the end of the letter, Father Christmas invited them to color the coloring papers he sent and to upload them on LaPoste website with the help of an adult.

Not very authentic but well, still a nice gesture from LaPoste.

The boys spent their time after lunch coloring the image sent by Father Christmas. They intended to hang them on the Christmas tree for Father Christmas.

Almond milk and cookies

We have been making our own almond milk. Seb ordered a milk bag from Amazon and with the Thermomix, it was a piece of cake to make the milk.

We soaked 100 grams of almond nuts over night.

The next day, we poured away the water, put the almond nuts in the thermomix with 1 liter of water.

The nuts were blended at high speed so any powerful blender will do.

After that, we filtered the milk out with the milk bag.

The fresh almond milk can be kept for a few days in the fridge. For the residue, known as okara, I used it to make vegan cookies. 

The 12 cookies I made would be finished before the milk was consumed. They were really good. If you are interested, I can send you the URL of the recipe. 

We no longer buy almond milk in a carton. Making our own almond milk is much cheaper and healthier as it is so fresh. And the cookies, lucky friends (cos there was never enough to share) who tried them could not tell they were vagan.

Now, doesn't this post tempt you to try this out yourself? ;)

Christmas windows

Last Sunday after church, we went to admire the window display put up by the Grand Magasins, Galleries Lafayette and Printemps. Galleries' was on a white theme. The boys did not take long to view from one end to the other end. 

We then went into Galleries to look at the center display. The decoration above the bags section were grand. I liked it.

Under the big white Christmas tree was the Chanel stand. Other than Chanel No 5, there were other Chanel number perfume and the whole area smelled so good. There were many people so we did not stay long.

We continued towards Printemps and the boys stayed longer in front of each window. Though it was all about mode with Jimmy Choo cited everywhere, it was still fun for the kids to watch the moving puppets.

We stopped by FNAC to get some Christmas gifts and Seb got the boys a few books.

After that, we went to meet up the boys' nanny, Ah Yi. We catch up once a while. She made the boys apple and pear compote and bought them their favourite snacks, dried prunes and nuts. Too bad the boys could not communicate with her in Chinese. They spoke to her in French. A1 even tried to speak to her in English. Just made me laugh. I explained to him Ah Yi was from China and did not understand english.

That summed up our Sunday in Paris. There were many security guards checking bags at the entrance of every store. The thought that we might be attacked surfaced in my mind but I pushed it aside. We do have to live our lives as normal as possible despite the random violence.

Caught in the act

I never expect to see Bao Bei on the dining table drinking A1's leftover chocolate milk. At 12 years old, is she going senile?

Bao Bei only drinks water and eat her cat biscuits. We had offered her milk, cheese, ham and fish but she never eat them. Unlike my friends' cats, she does not go to the kitchen top to lick nor eat food.

I wonder what was on her mind this day.

Less of that Christmas magic

A1 and I went to choose the Christmas tree on Saturday when A2 was having his tennis lesson. We chose the tallest tree in the 150-175cm range for 29€. The two boys decorated the tree and I only helped to put the star at the top. They were really happy that Christmas is coming.

2 weeks ago, they each wrote a letter to Father Christmas. But alas, a 8 year old boy told A1 and his friend that the parents are the Father Christmas. A1 had his doubts but his friend and him were assured that Father Christmas exists because both of them had sent their letter to the same address.

Père Noël

1 Rue du Ciel étoilé

Pôle Nord

Note: La Poste (French postal service) takes care of letters addressed to Father Christmas. No stamp needed. We even get a reply from Father Christmas if our letters are sent out in time.

Yesterday, the canteen lady told us that during lunch, A1 had told a table of younger children that Father Christmas did not exist. I found a moment to be alone with him this evening and talked to him. He told me he believed a little that Father Christmas exists. I confirmed his doubt and he was surprised that we were the ones buying the presents. He asked if we went out on 24 Dec night to buy the presents. LOL. I told him that the presents were bought in advance and hidden in the garage.

I explained that a real Father Christmas existed a long time ago. Now, it is tradition for adults to fulfil Father Christmas' job in bringing joy to children. He is a big boy now to know this secret. I told him everyone in the family contributed to his presents. He took everything well. But he mentioned that it was no good to lie to children. That made me smile again. He had promised not to let the cat out of the bag for the younger children including his brother.

Then he went to get the money given by the Tooth Fairy. He wanted to pay me for the presents we bought them over the years. LOL again.

Gee. I am not sure how much he believes in the Tooth Fairy. But that is for another discussion. Christmas is just that little less magical. A2 is not stupid and he hangs out with A1's friends often. I wonder if he has doubts too.

Bateau Parisienne

I am always writing old news. Being busy with family and work, I do not have much time to update this blog.

So, the boys got invited for a birthday party in Paris in October. Denise's boy, J invited his classmates and my boys for his 7th birthday. We were invited for a ride along the river Seine followed by a birthday tea party. While waiting to board the boat, I made balloon swords for the boys. They had fun running around on a sunny late summer day.

The boat ride, Enchanted Cruise, was catered to children. There were two elves singing and explaining the major landmarks along the Seine. They were highly entertaining. They even produced a music CD which could be bought at the end of the cruise.

After the cruise, we ate cake and J opened his many presents. Everyone was happy especially the lucky birthday boy.

Upcycle jean = Sling bag

I made a jeans sling bag from my old jeans. This is an easy to do bag. I used A1's old karate belt as the handle.

A1 carried it to school today as his swimming bag. He told me his teacher liked it and would like to have one too. I took that as a compliment. But first, I promised A2 to make a similar one though I only had an old jeans.

 The boys had several jeans that were torn at the knees which I hoped to upcycle. However, 5 and 6 years old size jeans are small. Doubt the upcycle kid's jean bag can contain much stuff. I shall try and see how it goes.